Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) Share Price Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE)’s share price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $11.11 and traded as high as $11.61. Hope Bancorp shares last traded at $11.26, with a volume of 1,302,328 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Hope Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Hope Bancorp from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Hope Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $14.50 target price on shares of Hope Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hope Bancorp in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hope Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.75.

Hope Bancorp Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a PE ratio of 24.48 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.11.

Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.01. Hope Bancorp had a net margin of 5.81% and a return on equity of 5.09%. The firm had revenue of $145.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $142.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.20 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Hope Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hope Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. Hope Bancorp’s payout ratio is 121.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hope Bancorp news, Director David P. Malone sold 20,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.50, for a total value of $239,430.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 66,658 shares in the company, valued at $766,567. This trade represents a 23.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Daisy Y. Ha sold 31,020 shares of Hope Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.48, for a total value of $387,129.60. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 81,240 shares of company stock worth $990,996 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Hope Bancorp by 91.5% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 32,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 15,687 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 68,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $722,000 after purchasing an additional 3,005 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Hope Bancorp by 147.1% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 492,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,153,000 after purchasing an additional 292,994 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Hope Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $297,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hope Bancorp by 676.8% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 227,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,378,000 after buying an additional 197,877 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.00% of the company’s stock.

About Hope Bancorp

Hope Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Hope Bank, a California-chartered financial institution serving small and middle-market businesses, professionals and affluent individuals. The company’s principal activities include accepting a variety of deposit products—such as checking accounts, savings and money market accounts, and time deposits—and extending commercial credit facilities. With a focus on community banking, Hope Bancorp tailors its offerings to meet the needs of clients in diverse industries, including real estate, professional services and import/export trade.

In its lending business, Hope Bancorp provides commercial real estate loans, construction financing, working capital lines of credit and equipment financing.